Wisconsin Right Now

Add open records to the attorney general's growing list of failures. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul is taking longer, on average, to respond to open records requests than AG Brad Schimel did in each of his last three years. According to records from Kaul's own office, in 2022, his office's average response time to an open records request was 54 days. That's up from 45 in 2021. Under Schimel, in 2018, the average was 35, in 2017 it was 24, and, in 2016, it was 27 days. In other words, as with the backlogs in the crime lab, Kaul is performing worse on open records than Schimel. Kaul's mid-year 2022 average turnaround time for an open records request was higher than every year since 2014 except for 2015. In the last full year, 2021, Kaul's office took longer to process an open records request on average than Schimel did his final year even though Kaul's office handled a few more open records requests in total. The median turn around time has be

Fifteen retired DCI agents and administrators are slamming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, calling him a "disaster for law enforcement" who has "mismanaged the Office of the Attorney General." DCI is the Division of Criminal Investigation , the key law enforcement agency within the state Department of Justice, which Kaul runs. The agents and administrators served in both Democratic and Republican administrators. The agents and administrators - including former DCI directors - criticized Kaul for plummeting numbers of submissions at the state crime lab; for his ineffectiveness in combating rising crime numbers; for keeping the fact Jacob Blake was armed from the public as Kenosha burned; for a backlog of more than 1,000 child sex predator tips; for plummeting morale and micromanagement; for not properly staffing DCI offices; and for politicizing his office. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, a Republican, is running against Kaul on Nov. 8.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul came out swinging in the Wisconsin Attorney General debate on Oct. 27, 2022, but he ended up botching the debate in some big ways. We counted at least 7. Kaul squared off against his Republican challenger, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. Kaul seemed his most animated when he brought up abortion. He distorted Toney's record on some key issues. However, on questions of public safety - with homicide skyrocketing - Kaul flubbed badly. Here are the 7 ways Kaul botched the Wisconsin Attorney General's debate, which was held at the State Bar of Wisconsin : 1. Walking Coldly Away When Asked About the Mother of Child Murder Victim Lisa Ann French & Accusing the Grieving Mom of Playing Politics https://youtu.be/sS0tQCoyy4U Kaul's biggest flub came in the parking lot on his way into the debate. A key requirement of any attorney general is to have empathy for victims. However, when asked to respond to comments

Attorney General Josh Kaul coldly walked away on video when asked Thursday about Maryann Gehring, the mother of Lisa Ann French, the little girl murdered while trick or treating by the Halloween killer. Watch: https://youtube.com/shorts/sS0tQCoyy4U Gehring has accused Kaul of failing her and failing victims. The media have censored her comments. We asked Kaul his response to Gehring saying Kaul failed her and victims, and he stayed totally silent, walking away. We gave him multiple chances to respond, but he turned his back and walked away. His staffer held out his hand to try to block the video. We confronted Kaul outside the AG debate. Kaul's office is handling ongoing civil commitment proceedings to keep Halloween killer Gerald Turner off the streets. They were initiated by AG Brad Schimel with help from Kaul's opponent Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney.

Attorney General Josh Kaul coldly walked away on video when asked Thursday about Maryann Gehring, the mother of Lisa Ann French, the little girl murdered while trick or treating by the Halloween killer. https://fb.watch/gqGAkl6KQv/ Gehring has accused Kaul of failing her and failing victims. The media have censored her comments. We asked Kaul his response to Gehring saying Kaul failed her and victims, and he stayed totally silent, walking away. We gave him multiple chances to respond, but he turned his back and walked away. His staffer held out his hand to try to block the video. We confronted Kaul outside the AG debate. Kaul's office is handling ongoing civil commitment proceedings to keep Halloween killer Gerald Turner off the streets. They were initiated by AG Brad Schimel with help from Kaul's opponent Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney.  

Did you know that Josh Kaul's office has botched cases relating to Gerald Turner and Darrell Brooks? Of course not. The Wisconsin media have censored the stories. The media aren't even hiding it anymore. Their bias in the statewide Wisconsin races is egregious. It's true in the governor's race, but it's also true in the state Attorney General's race, where the media are bending over backwards to protect Democratic AG Josh Kaul. They are doing this by CENSORING three major stories that hurt Kaul and help his opponent, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney. Two relate to two of the most notorious murderers in state history. Instead, they are scrounging around for every comment Toney makes referring to abortion. Here are the 3 stories the media are keeping from voters. These are all stories with major news value. There's zero question about that. It's not even a debate. You can't argue that they aren't newsworthy. Wisconsin's bi

Eric Toney to Josh Kaul: "I will not stand for our children being put at risk" Attorney General Josh Kaul has dropped the ball in a big way on Internet Crimes Against Children tips and referrals, with a backlog that may exceed 1,000, Republican candidate Eric Toney says. This means that some predators targeting children may be going free. Toney is demanding that Kaul immediately release the backlog numbers after hearing about them from multiple sources. He has submitted an open records request because Kaul has not provided the information. Challenged on the backlog byToney at Sunday's Up Front debate, Kaul didn't deny it, and he offered no defense. The referrals often come from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Normally, they would be assigned to a Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation employee or local police agencies for further investigation. Under Kaul, they are just sitting there, Toney said. ICAC referrals includ

It's very unusual that law enforcement and DAs have so firmly turned their back on the man who holds the position considered by many to be the state's "top cop." Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul has only been able to get 5 of the state's 71 Wisconsin district attorneys to support his campaign, laughably calling it a bipartisan "coalition." His Republican opponent, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, the president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association, has the support of 30 district attorneys, 28 who are sitting DAs and two who are retired. Furthermore, Kaul has announced zero law enforcement endorsements from police chiefs, police associations or sheriffs, whereas Toney has a long list. Kaul's bizarre attempt to turn a measly 5 DAs into a "coalition" is reminiscent of the wording used by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, who initially announced a grand total of 9 law enforcement endorseme

Republican candidates for governor and attorney general are sharply criticizing Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul for promising not to enforce Wisconsin law if Roe v. Wade is overturned. "Prosecutors are supposed to enforce the law, not pick and choose which laws they like," said Tim Michels. "The left wants to enforce mob rule and further degrade law and order in Wisconsin," said Kevin Nicholson. "Whether you are the Attorney General or the District Attorney of Milwaukee County, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you defend," said Rebecca Kleefisch. "Civil society relies upon law and order, and taxpayers deserve government employees who operate with the highest level of scrutiny and confidentiality that every single public office and position commands," said Timothy Ramthun. All four are running as Republicans for governor. Nicholson and Kleefisch also called out Evers for his pro-abortion statements, and Michels stressed t

New Attorney General candidate Adam Jarchow raised zero dollars in his first campaign finance report, deleted a childish website he created painting his Republican opponent as a marionette, said police reform is probably needed in Milwaukee, and once pushed a bill with liberal Democrats to decriminalize some possession of marijuana cases and argued to legalize the drug. We think there's an even bigger problem, though: He's never prosecuted a criminal case. There's a new Republican candidate for state Attorney General and, as with Professor Ryan Owens , Adam Jarchow has never handled a single criminal case in Wisconsin, according to a review of online court records. He's tweeted, "Running DOJ has nothing to do with courtroom experience" before scrubbing his Twitter account, and a Madison newspaper reported that he doesn't think Republicans should define the state's top law enforcement official (Attorney General) as the state's top cop. Here'

Calling it a “life and death Decision,” the Milwaukee Police Association endorsed Eric Toney for AG, slamming Josh Kaul for failing to prioritize public safety. The Milwaukee Police Association has endorsed Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney for Attorney General instead of Democratic incumbent Josh Kaul, slamming Kaul for putting "safety at the bottom." "Milwaukee Police Association members are working on the front lines every day to provide the highest degree of uninterrupted public safety service to the community. So is Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney," wrote Andrew Wagner, MPA president, in a news release. "That is why the MPA, representing 1,500 professional Police Officers, Forensic Investigators, and Detectives of the City of Milwaukee, proudly announces its endorsement of Eric Toney for the office of Wisconsin Attorney General," the release continues. The MPA said that Eric Toney "is the tough-on-crime prosecutor Milwaukee and

Calling it a “life and death Decision,” the Milwaukee Police Association endorsed Eric Toney for AG, slamming Josh Kaul for failing to prioritize public safety. The Milwaukee Police Association has endorsed Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney for Attorney General instead of Democratic incumbent Josh Kaul, slamming Kaul for putting "safety at the bottom." "Milwaukee Police Association members are working on the front lines every day to provide the highest degree of uninterrupted public safety service to the community. So is Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney," wrote Andrew Wagner, MPA president, in a news release. "That is why the MPA, representing 1,500 professional Police Officers, Forensic Investigators, and Detectives of the City of Milwaukee, proudly announces its endorsement of Eric Toney for the office of Wisconsin Attorney General," the release continues. The MPA said that Eric Toney "is the tough-on-crime prosecutor Milwaukee and t

Josh Kaul crime failure: He's dropped the ball on fighting crime, Eric Toney says . Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney, who is the Fond du Lac County DA, says Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul has defunded prosecutors and law enforcement, showing he "isn't serious about addressing the violent crime epidemic. Toney also called out Kaul for his failures to effectively manage the state crime lab. (Read our investigative piece on that here. ) “Josh Kaul is pushing a recycled, liberal wish list of ideas which shows he isn’t serious about addressing the violent crime epidemic. He has defunded prosecutors and law enforcement from DOJ when more police officers and resources for law enforcement are what’s needed," Toney said in response to a big media push Kaul is making for election time on crime. Toney says the AG's press conferences on crime obscure his failed record on the issue. “It takes a focus on traditional law enforcement —  not poli

AG Josh Kaul’s crime lab is worse on many key measurements than his predecessor, yet the media aren't holding him accountable. That's a double standard. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has failed on public safety, with crime lab delays worse in key areas - like guns and DNA - than those under former Republican AG Brad Schimel. Even though Schimel's crime lab was more productive and effective, he was hammered relentlessly by Kaul and the news media. Yet Kaul's worse record isn't getting much scrutiny even as a Republican AG primary gears up. At a time of soaring crime rates, Kaul's crime lab is taking in far fewer cases (a trend that started BEFORE COVID-19), but it's also taking longer to get police and prosecutors key evidence they need to get criminals off the streets, a review of his own data shows. Kaul has offered excuse after excuse for this fact, but the crime lab's role in public safety has unquestionably diminished under his leaders